💾 Archived View for jsreed5.org › misc › witw-log › 0126-0150-archive.gmi captured on 2023-06-16 at 16:47:11. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-04-19)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
---
Where In The World? • Puzzle #150 • 2022-12-28 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Kazakhstan)
I'd wager that most people who are familiar with the Baikonue Cosmodrome will be familiar with the shape of Kazakhstan. Another feature I quickly hone in on is the western vorder, on the east coast of the Caspian Sea.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #149 • 2022-12-27 ✅❌❌❌❌↗️ ✅✅✅✅❌↖️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Latvia)
My wife commented that the outline of Latvia resembles a vulture. I can't say she's wrong.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #148 • 2022-12-26 ✅✅❌❌❌⬅️ ✅✅✅❌❌⬆️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Cyprus)
Parts of Cyrpus's northern border resemble South Africa to me, but I knew this country was too squat to be that. I had a suspicion it was Brunei at first; after guessing it, I remembered that Brunei had an exclave. The direction pointed me in the general direction of Africa, so I guessed Burundi next. From there, the most likely answer was Cyprus.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #147 • 2022-12-25 ✅✅✅✅❌⬆️ ✅✅✅✅🤏➡️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: French Guiana)
Another lucky guess, I suppose. The country somewhat resembled Brazil to me, though I knew that guess would be wrong. However, it did put me on track enough to know this was a country on the northern coast of South America. A few short hops later brought me to the correct answer.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #146 • 2022-12-24 ✅✅✅✅❌⬇️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Nigeria)
I've guessed Nigeria on a few answers before, but seeing it now, I realize how far off that guess was. I first suspicion was Spain, given the small hooked area to the southeast that resembled Gibraltar. It was only from that first guess that I was directed to the African coast, and from there, Nigeria was a lucky guess.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #145 • 2022-12-23 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Turkmenistan)
Where In The World? • Puzzle #144 • 2022-12-22 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Canada)
I have a relative who lives in Canada, and as an American, I see maps of Canada next to the United States all the time. Probably its most distinguisable feature to me is the massive Hudson Bay, followed by the fragmented islands of Nunavut.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #143 • 2022-12-21 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: United Kingdom)
I don't actually have much of a gripe with constitutional monarchy.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #142 • 2022-12-20 ❌❌❌❌❌➡️ ✅✅❌❌❌⬅️ ✅✅✅❌❌↗️ ✅✅✅✅❌➡️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↖️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Malaysia)
I did something I've never done before and modified my final answer on this one, knowing that I logically had only one real answer to what this country was but deliberately choosing a wrong snswer because I didn't think it was right. I changed the final choice to reflect what I could logically deduce the only answer was, given all the facts. Is this cheating? Strictly by the book, yes. Do I care? No, because my head was right in the end, so I did technically guess correctly.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #141 • 2022-12-19 ✅✅✅✅❌↖️ ✅✅✅✅🤏➡️ ✅✅✅❌❌↖️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↘️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Aruba)
Another tricky Caribbean island, and another lucky guess to get it right. Fortunately, Aruba should be very easy to recognize next time, as its shape strongly resembles the blade of a chef's knife.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #140 • 2022-12-18 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Somalia)
Where In The World? • Puzzle #138 • 2022-12-16 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Morocco)
Despite being on the northwest coast of Africa, there's not much about the coastal border of Morocco that stands out to me. What tipped me off is the long, straight southern edge that borders Western Sahara.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #137 • 2022-12-15 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Nepal)
Where In The World? • Puzzle #136 • 2022-12-14 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: The Gambia)
Finally an easy one! The Gambia is notable for its narrow shape, closely following the shape of its namesake river.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #135 • 2022-12-13 ✅✅❌❌❌↗️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬇️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬅️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬆️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Isle of Man)
Fun fact: if I have no idea where a place is at all, I usually put Uruguay as a first guess, simply because I know where that is. Faroe was my second choice, and a short circular arc around northern Europe finally got me to Isle of Man.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #134 • 2022-12-12 ✅✅✅✅❌⬇️ ✅✅✅❌❌↙️ ✅✅❌❌❌↙️ ✅✅✅❌❌↙️ ✅✅✅❌❌➡️ ✅❌❌❌❌↙️
(Answer: Bouvet Island)
I had no hope of getting this answer correct, and to be frank, I became frustrated and lost interest in trying after my first three guesses steadily moved me farther and farther away. My last guess was completely wrong on purpose. What irks me even more is that I think Bouvet Island, a tiny sub-Antarctic island off the southwest coast of Africa, was an answer once before, and I think I even got it right then.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #133 • 2022-12-11 ✅✅✅✅❌➡️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬅️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬇️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Gabon)
Today's country took some luck. My first guess was Sierra Leone, which was on the right continent but on the wrong section of Africa's coastline. I was quickly able to zoom in on Congo and Cameroon, but neither of those were correct. I couldn't think of another country in that part of Africa offhand, so I simply began scanning the list of countries. It clicked when I came across Gabon on the list.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #132 • 2022-12-10 ✅✅✅✅🤏↗️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Niger)
I don't know why, but I still get Niger confused with Burkino Faso all the time.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #131 • 2022-12-09 ✅✅❌❌❌↗️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↖️ ✅✅✅✅❌↙️ ✅✅✅✅❌⬅️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↖️ ✅✅✅✅❌↖️
(Answer: Cayman Islands)
I should have known this one, since every time I wire several thousand dollars to an unknown bank account I received in an SMS message filled with broken English, the money somehow always ends up here. Famcy that! In all seriousness, my closest guess was Jamaica, and based on that, I still wouldn't have guessed the Caymans. The fact that it has three islands in the WitW map, and that the largest one is widely separated from the other two, are good clues to look for.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #130 • 2022-12-08 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Iceland)
Anyone who watches strongman competitions will be familiar with Iceland. More directly related to geography, Iceland has a comparatively simple coastline to the south, but the northern side is highly intricate. To my knowledge, that seems to be a common feature of oceanic islands in the upper lattitudes: the coast closer to the pole is more complicated, while the coast closer to the equator is more smooth. I wonder why that is.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #129 • 2022-12-07 ✅✅✅✅🤏↘️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↘️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↘️ ✅✅✅✅🤏➡️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬇️ ✅✅✅✅🤏⬇️
(Answer: Albania)
So close! I don't know my eastern European countries very well, and Albania is nondescript enough that I'll probably have trouble recognizing it next time, too.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #128 • 2022-12-06 ✅✅❌❌❌➡️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↗️ ✅✅✅✅🤏↖️ ✅✅✅✅❌⬇️ ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Saint Kitts and Nevis)
I feel like this has been an answer before, but I can't remember for sure. Easily the most striking feature is how strongly the country resembles an exclamation mark, with Saint Kitts forming the line mark and Nevis forming the dot. That should make it easy to recognize.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #127 • 2022-12-05 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Hong Kong)
Very small municipalities like Hong Kong can appear jarringly fragmented when scaled up. The map resembled Tierra del Fuego to me, but of course that is not a country. I was only able to recognize it as Hong Kong thanks to Victoria Harbour, between the mainland and Hong Kong Island to the southeast, into which juts a very narrow and straight peninsula that was once the site of Hong Kong Kai Tak airport.
Where In The World? • Puzzle #126 • 2022-12-04 ✅✅✅✅✅🎉
(Answer: Botswana)
I actually got this country right for the wrong reason! Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana meet where the Zambezi and Chobe rivers converge and almost form a quad-point, which is only blocked by a shared border between Botswana and Zambia that is a few hundred feet long. I thought I recognized this convergence point in the east of today's country, and I knew it didn't match the shapes of Zambia, Namibia or Zimbabwe, so I guessed Botswana. While this guess was correct, the convergence point is in the north of Botswana, not the east.
---
[Last updated: 2022-12-28]